Aims: The present study aimed to examine the feasibility of detecting vimentin (VIM) methylation in the serum of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and to determine the effectiveness of a relatively simple, inexpensive, and non-invasive test performed in combination with the conventional carcinoembryonic antigen analysis.
Materials and methods: VIM methylation in the serum DNA of 242 patients with CRC was measured by a quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction.
Results: A significantly higher positive rate was obtained for VIM methylation than for carcinoembryonic antigen or carbohydrate antigen 19-9 in stage 0, I, and II patients. The combination of all three markers yielded similar sensitivity for patients with disease of stage 0: 57.1%, I: 36.1%, II: 45.2%, and III: 55.4%, whereas the sensitivity reached 85.7% for patients with stage IV disease.
Conclusion: VIM methylation of serum DNA may be a useful marker for the early detection of CRC.
Keywords: Colorectal cancer; methylation; vimentin.
Copyright© 2014 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.